Ashes of Victory
by Fabius Maximus
Summary: Lila won. That isn't a good thing as Marinette tells her in a one-sided conversation. Character death.


Ashes of Victory.

Lila won. That wasn't a good thing.

"Ma'am?" The bus driver looked back at Marinette. "Are you certain you want to get off. It's close to night and they close the gates then."

"I won't be long."

"Ah, well, remember that they will always let you out." He stared at Paris, the city growing closer. "Hard to believe it's been ten years."

"Yes," the twenty-five year old said. The bus was driving down a road, abandoned buildings on each side.

"They're still tearing down the suburbs," he said. "Gonna eventually put a train in to bring mourners and…" his voice grew harsh. "Tourists."

"Did you live in Paris?"

"Yes. I got out just before… Well, before Ladybug failed." He shook his head. "Not that I blame her. You know, she was just a little girl, not that anyone knows for certain if she was the _only_ Ladybug."

Marinette shook her head. She didn't know who Ladybug had been, just who she hadn't been. Someone new, someone inexperienced.

Someone who had failed.

"What about you?" the driver asked.

"Yes. My parents and I were out of the city when it happened." Marinette shook her head. "We spent some time in the refugee camp and then moved. All of our friends had been in Paris, so we moved to Southern California. I just graduated from UCI, so I wanted to come back… And make my last farewells." Rebuilding the bakery, to say nothing of everything else that had happened—Marinette had just taken the GED, then after she'd become proficient enough in English, got her AA at a community college with part time schooling, then gone to UCI, graduating not long after she'd turned 25.

Alya would have laughed to hear that she had a degree in engineering with a minor in fashion, though she didn't try to sell her designs professionally anymore. Just made things for her small circle of friends who lived in the Garden Grove apartment complex they have lived in.

Some dreams had died with Paris.

"Well," he said. "Here we are. Not many people, but…" The driver looked back at Marinette as she stared at the curving wall, the Eiffel tower visible above it. "…Some people, especially people who lived her, don't realize how bad it is until they get inside. If you need to come out, don't try and tough it out. In fact, maybe you should come back when there are organized groups…"

"I'll be fine," Marinette said with a smile.

She got out of the bus, adjusted her umbrella to stop the light drizzle, and then walked to the gates. There weren't many people there, with most of them clustered around the names. The Wall had names on it, Four Million names. They were repeated in several discrete segments, with every foot of the wall around Paris bearing the names.

There were flowers and teddy bears and votive candles. Marinette heard someone sobbing.

_I wonder what they would say if they knew I was to blame. _

She walked in the gate after signing her name and ID and accepting the locater bracelet. She was informed that if she did not return by the time of the gates closing, or if she remained still for more than an hour, or if the sensors in the bracelet indicated injury or self-harm, she would be removed from the memorial park.

Marinette nodded and walked in through the portal, to see Nadja Chamack's face just beyond the arch. Her eyes were wide, one hand stretched out towards Marinette, the other hand pulling her daughter with her.

After all her scoops, Nadja had found something she wanted to run from, rather than interview.

Not that it had saved her or her daughter.

"Hello, Nadja," Marinette said. _If only she'd been a few feet closer. _The gleaming amber coating kept their bodies preserved. But in the days after the great disaster, some had been brought to various labs, and after effort, the coatings had been pierced.

And they'd found out that the victims were dead. Had died in the instant of their entombment, for all that they looked perfectly preserved. Maybe a Miraculous Cure, but…

Well. Those were gone.

If it hadn't been so hard to remove them, the bodies probably would have been buried. Instead, every person, inside or outside a building or vehicle, had a little plaque with their name on it.

Marinette shook her head. "Good bye, Nadja, Manon." She kept walking, past the trees, gleaming in their amber shrouds. So did the buildings, and cars, no rust or decay marring their perfect, dead forms. The street was crowded with the still forms of the dead, frozen in their last moment, running, standing or just gawking.

But Marinette wasn't here to wander aimlessly. She knew both of her destinations.

The site of the final battle was illuminated by lights that had been installed after the disaster. There were flowers and messages piled aroun the perimeter. Of the battle site. Near the edge, Rena Rouge and Carapace stood, frozen in one last desperate attempt to stop Hawkmoth. Hawkmoth stood in the center of the circle, hands up, face contorted in an expression of triumph.

"Got your wish, I see," Marinette said. She looked down at his feet, where Ladybug lay, the small form crumpled, blood puddling around her head. Her costume had gone with her Miraculous, but Marinette didn't recognize her. Nor had anyone else. The metal placard read: Unknown. Marinette stared at the girl and shook her head. _So small… Was I ever that small?_

And behind them, Adrien, his body cradled in Queen Bee's arms. Chloe's face was frozen in mid-sob. She hadn't even tried to avoid the death that had swept down on her.

"Sorry Chloe," Marinette said. "I never realized how much you loved Adrien. You don't need to worry about Kagami anymore. She was outside of the city, but her mother was taken…" She shook her head. "She left for Japan and I've never spoken to her since. I have someone else to talk to, but thank you for taking care of Adrien." She paused and looked at her friends. "I'm so sorry I failed you."

And with that Marinette left the last battle. She kept walking, until she got to her old school. She passed Ms. Mendeleiev on the steps and kept walking into the school. Ms. Bustier's class was frozen, the beginnings of a rush as they realized that this Akuma attack was going to have no good ending, stilled forever.

"Hello Alix, Juleka, Rose…" Marinette went down the list, without needing to read their placards. Rose was nestled in Juleka's arm, the goth forever stopped while in the motion of trying to shield the blond. Juleka's parents had escaped, which was why there were so many flowers around her, along with a single present, set in front of her.

Right. Juleka would have turned twenty-five a few days ago. But Marinette had someone else to talk to.

"Hello, Lila," she said to her old rival, Lila's face looking out the window with an expression of shock on it. "I thought I should congratulate you on your win. Remember? When I was akumaized? You convinced everyone I had deliberately done it to get attention, and that was the last straw, even if Chloe believed me. My parents and I were out of Paris, looking at a boarding school when it happened. We saw the flash, the dome and I came back as fast as I could—I jumped out of the car when Papa told me we couldn't go and stole a moped… It was all over though. You see, when you akumaized me? I couldn't be Ladybug. Master Fu had to find another and I couldn't talk to him, because I was the weak link, that Hawkmoth could use. You were good at that."

She glanced at the windows, the rain starting to bead and run down the glass. There were on other sounds. For some reason, no birds ever returned to Paris after the event. "Do you know that the Ladybug can't be a year over 13? I couldn't get close enough to train her, I didn't even know where Master Fu was, not until they found his body. I have no idea where the miracle box is, but maybe it's best that way. Let it stay lost. I don't know if I could resist trying to find it, even if my wish would go as badly as Hawkmoth's." She sighed. "We never did know what he wanted." She glanced down at the book, its pages preserved forever. "Pity that you were wasting time with a test." Marinette paused, then whispered to Lila. "I'm going to tell you a secret. I don't think anyone is going to care about what grades you got."

"You also destroyed France as a world power. Not just physically, but mentally. Nobody knew what would happen next, so people ran. France still needs foreign aid… But I have to admit, having Little Paris right next to Little Saigon in Southern California makes for some interesting dining. That was where Maman and Papa put the new bakery." She sighed. "But I'm not here for that. I'm here to tell you, Lila, that maybe I shouldn't have left. Maybe I should have fought. Or ran before you managed to akumaize me. I guess it doesn't matter now. So, I'll take my leave. I probably won't be back. My new job is going to be in Flagstaff, Arizona, and I won't have time to travel." Marinette got up and started walking to the door, nodding to Ms. Bustier. But she paused and looked back.

"But like I said. Congratulations on your win, Lila." Marinette turned and walked out of the building. For a moment she stopped at the entrance. The rain was coming down, and she had a flash of a blond boy offering her an umbrella. She shook her head and opened her umbrella up over her head. For a moment, she thought about visiting the others she'd known here.

_No._ She'd said what she had come to say, and she didn't want to stay in this kingdom of the dead any longer than she had to. Marinette nodded to herself, then turned and walked down the silent roads, heading for the gateways that would lead her back to the world of the living.


End file.
